Match Summary

NEW BERLIN, Wis. — The Saint Mary's University men's tennis team made it a weekend sweep on Sunday, as the Cardinals posted their third straight 8-1 victory, this time disposing of Carroll College in a nonconference match at Moorland Tennis Center.

“We had a great finish to our weekend, playing our best tennis yet this season,” said SMU coach Jeff Halberg, whose team posted back-to-back 8-1 wins over MSOE and Concordia-Wisconsin on Saturday. “Carroll is a very tough team, but we played with real intensity from the first ball and did a superb job throughout.

“It was a great finish to a very successful weekend.”

The Cardinals opened with a sweep of the three doubles matches, with Sam Puff (Eden Prairie, Minn.)-Andrew Rangitsch (Oakdale, Minn.) winning 8-4 at No. 2, while Michael Lunka (Eagan, Minn.)-Bobby Steingraeber (La Crosse, Wis.) and Tim Wolford (Maple Grove, Minn.)-Steven Mino (Austin, Minn.) were 8-5 winners at No. 1 and No. 3, respectively.

Going from that 3-0 lead to an 8-1 triumph, however, was anything but easy, as Pawel Szczepkowski (Opolskie, Poland) and Steingraeber needed three sets for their singles wins. Szczepkowski dropped the first set at No. 3, 6-2, before rallying for a 7-6, 10-4 victory, while Steingraeber did the same thing at No. 4, losing the opening set 6-4, and bouncing back for a 6-4, 10-4 victory.

Lunka, Wolford and Puff, meanwhile, took the more traditional routes to their singles victories, winning in straight sets.

The Cardinals, who improved to 4-3 overall with the win, returns to action on Saturday, traveling to Elkhorn, Wis., for a nonconference match against Edgewood College.